REVIEW: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part II

After 10 long years of filming, and 10 long years of charming all of the men, women and children all around the world, the time has come for the final film in this legendary franchise! Words cannot describe the expectations from every single Potter fan for the final instalment, and after how Deathly Hallows: Part I turned out, expectations were exceedingly high. As expected, Deathly Hallows: Part II had all of the great action scenes with all the suspense and exciting segments within. However, there were a few things that were quite surprising in this film. The novel itself is quite emotional but Deathly Hallows: Part II really is a very emotional film to watch and it could lead you to bursting into tears. It isn’t just emotional because it is the last film in the series, but it is a very gripping conclusion that truly shows the difference between good and evil. It is also a fine demonstration of a film about love, friendship and bravery so pretty much everything that the film details is pure inspiration.

Deathly Hallows was my favourite novel out of all of them in the series, and this one as well as Part I, they fit more in the book than any other film in the series does. Admittedly, there were some noticeable flaws in this one that weren’t included in the books. There were some quotes that were said in the book that were featured in the film (there is one that you really will notice around the end). You will have to see the film to find that out first. However, there were some moments within that weren’t in the book but were included in the film, and quite frankly, some of them were needed. After seeing and loved both parts of the final novel, the split between the book to make two films was needed because so much happens in the book and in both films. SO, it just would’ve been too much to take in for one film. Besides, two parts made it a more exciting build-up to the finale.

Deathly Hallows: Part II begins straight after Part I and now that Lord Voldemort has possession of the Elder Wand which he stole from Albus Dumbledore’s tomb, the odds are against Harry, Ron and hermione to defeat the Dark Lord. They still have hope so they are continuing their mission in hunting the rest of the Horcruxes to destroy in order to kill Voldemort and bring peace to the Wizarding World once again. Some of the members of the Order have given up hope, and so have some of the students at Hogwarts. However, when Harry returns to Hogwarts to find another Horcrux, they unite and fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. So, a huge battle at the castle starts and the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort begins.

Daniel Radcliffe never gave a breathtaking performance to remember as Harry Potter out of all the films in the franchise. However, in Deathly Hallows: Part II, he still wasn’t able to do that, but he delivers easily the best performance out of all 8 films. He made Harry act more of a brave hero than ever in this one, and was convincing enough for the viewers to travel along with Harry (as well as Ron and Hermione) on their long and brave task to find and destroy the Horcruxes and then Voldemort himself. However, despite his performance was better in this one than any other film, he still had his weakness like in every other film: forced acting. Apart from that, he ended seeing Harry Potter on screen in style! Rupert Grint and Emma Watson make one final appearance together alongside Dan to give the teenage trio one farewell goodbye! All three of them together manage to make this truly the epic conclusion that we all were wanting from the very beginning! Ron and Hermione bond even closer in this final film. Being a guy of the early 90s who grew up with these films as well as alongside Dan, Rupert and Emma, it truly was great to see them all in these films for one last time. So, hopefully they’ll be in some more great films in the near future.

The rest of the British actors and actresses who have been in the majority of the films over the past decade, reunite one last time for the final conclusion in this cinema-changing franchise (perhaps the most successful series of films that we Brits have created). Ralph Fiennes was just fantastic as Lord Voldemort aka You-Know-Who, and shows exactly what Voldemort’s true nature is, like in the books. He and Dan Radcliffe together made the hero and villain story even more personal, heartfelt, exciting and most of all: epic! Now after watching all of the films that involve Lord Voldemort, Fiennes is the only one who could have pulled off portraying him so accurately. Alan Rickman in my opinion delivers the best performance out of every other actor in the series, and even after seeing a very cold-hearted, bitter and scheming Severus Snape in the previous seven films, we learn secrets about Snape that we hadn’t known about before (and Harry didn’t know about either). So, therefore, we saw a different Snape and his true colours, which makes him my personal favourite character in the series and I would select him as an Oscar contender for Best Supporting Actor. Alan, you portrayed Snape perfectly and you were deservedly the best actor in the series!

David Yates, the fourth director of the Harry Potter films, and the one with so much on his shoulders to make an epic finale to such a gigantically successful franchise, shows his true colours as a great film director! Admittedly, he had some weaknesses as director of Order Of The Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows: Part I, but he managed to fit in all the action, all the drama, all the romance and even some of the jokes without making it too soppy, boring, un-entertaining or exciting! No, he hasn’t been the best director out of the four directors chosen to direct the films, but he has definitely directed the best film in the series, and he did it splendidly! After writing the scripts for all eight films, Steve Kloves one last time writes the screenplay of J.K. Rowling’s series finale. Although, some lines were a tad bit cheesy (like in the rest of the films), it still made the film feel real by mixing the modern world that we live in now alongside the Wizarding World aka the “Harry Potter world”. So, I’d like to see him return writing a series of scripts for films in the future.

Overall, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part II is an absolutely magnificent, epic finale to such a phenomenal franchise! Just like Toy Story 3 last year, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part II is the ending of an era of my childhood (like most people of the late 80s and early 90s) so for that reason, this film really means a lot to me! It hurts to say that the series is now over, but it is easily the best film of the series and they really did save the best film until last. Therefore, it couldn’t have ended the series any better than it did. Farewell,Harry Potter!